RoxwelNews

Metal Guitarist Convicted of Rape

Former Iced Earth guitarist Ernie Carletti was convicted Monday of kidnapping and rape, stemming from his abduction of a University of Delaware student back in 2003. According to AP, a Superior Court jury in Wilmington, Delaware, found the 32-year-old musician guilty on two counts of first-degree rape and one count of first-degree kidnapping; he was acquitted on a related weapons charge.

Carletti admitted to abducting the student, shackling her arms and legs, and then hog-tying her at his Maryland home until she began crying. During the trial, he testified that he did not have a gun and did not rape the woman. "Maybe I wasn't thinking clearly," he said. "It was just part of the effect. I didn't say she wanted it, but she did not deny it."

The victim testified last week that she was waiting for a ride in nearby Newark, Delaware, when a stranger forced her into his car at gunpoint. She was handcuffed, shackled and blindfolded, then was driven to the man's home. After she was raped, she was driven back to Newark and left tied and blindfolded on West Main Street. Carletti's fingerprints were discovered on duct tape used to bind the woman

He faces up to two life prison terms. His sentencing date has not been announced.